Butt removing and husking mechanism for green corn



Aug. 23, 1932. w. w. MORRAL ET AL BUTT REMOVING AND HUSKING MECHANISMFOR GREEN CORN Filed Feb. 29. 1928 #mwmm. w w MORRA L. 5. 5 MGR/PAL.

4 77TOH/VEY Patented Aug. 23, 1932 UNITE STATES PATENT WILLIAM W MORE-ALAN D SAMUELE. MORRAL, F MOBRAL, OHIO BUTT REMOVING AND nusKrNGivrnonnnrsivr FOR qnnnncorm 7 Application filed February 29, 1928.Serial No. 257,827.

This invention relates'to a butt removing and husking mechanism forgreen corn.

Qne object of the invention is to provide a combined butt removing andhusking mechanism having separate conveyors for the butt removingmechanism and for the husking mechanism, said conveyors being soarranged with relation one to the other that the convey or for thehusking mechanism will engagethe car as it is discharged from theconveyor for the butt removing: mechanism and move the Same intoengagement with and along the husking rollers.

A further object of the invention is to pro: vide such a mechanism whichwill be simple in its construction and operation and which may beproduced at a relatively low cost. 1

A further object of the-invention is to provide a mechanism of this kindwith husking rollers which will more effectually remove the silk fromears ofcorn.

' further object of the invention is to provide a butt removingdevicehaving spiral. gaging rollers one of which is yield-able withrelation to the other to accommodate the roll ers to ears of differentthickness.

7 further object of the invention is to provide a butt removing devicehaving an improved husk loosening device.

Other objects of the-invention will appear as the device is described indetail.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away,of a mecha-' nism embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation,partly broken away, of such a mechanism; Fig. 3 isan end elevation ofthe husking rollers; Fig.4 is an end elevation of the brush forpositioning the ears' on the husking rollers; Fig. 5 is-a ,planview of amodified gaging device; Fig. 6 is an end View; of thegaging device ofFig. 5; Fig.7 is a plan viewof another modification of the gag ingdevice; and Fig. 8 is an end view of the gaging device of Fig. 7. V Inthe drawing we have illustrated one embodiment of the invention,together with some minor modifications thereof, and it will beunderstood that these embodiments have been chosen for the purpose'ofillustration only and that the mechanism may take various forms withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. As shownin Figs. 1 to r themechanism comprises a butt removing device having two spiral gagingrollers, 5 and 6, rotatable about parallel axes arranged in asubstantially horizontal plane and adapted to receive between them thestem and butt end of an ear of corn,,which issupported in an uprightposition, and toadvance the butt of the ear along the rollers towardacutter 7 which is arranged adjacent to the dischargeend of the gagingrollers. A conomcr veyor is provided for moving the upper ends of theears forwardly as the butts are advanced by the gaging rollers and thiscon veyor, as here shown, comprises a pair of sprocket chains'8 providedwith vertically arranged laterahprojections or flights 9 which projectover the space between the two gaging rollers and engage the earsforrsubstantial portions of theirlength, the move ment of. the endlessconveyor and of the gaging rollers being so timed that the ears will bemaintained in upright-positions. -In the present construction, thegaging rollers areconnected one. to the other by means of spur gears 10secured to the ends thereof and one of the rollers has securedthereto abev eled gear 11 which meshes with a beveled gear 12 on a drive shaft 13which is pro vided with suitable means for connecting the same with asource of power, such as a belt pulley 14. llhe sprocket chains for theendless conveyors extend about sprocket,

Wheels 15 and'16 mounted respectively on, shafts 17 and 18. One of theshafts, in the: present instance, the shaft 17, has secured thereto aworm gear 19 which meshes with the spirals on the gaging roller 5 sothat the shaft is rotated by the gaging roller and the endless conveyor1s caused to moveat a speed whichis fixed with relation to the speed ofthe gaging rollers. I

The cutter is here shown as a horizontal rotary cutter and is carried bya shaft 20, the lower end of which is provided with a bevel gear 21which meshes with a beveled gear 22 on a transverse" shaft 28.-

pulley 24 is secured to the shaft 23 and is conlated.

the gaging rollers, that the ears of corn will be retained lbiawellitherespective'ali'ghts and thus maintained in substantiallyverticalposit-ions. Meansfare provided for pressing the ear'against1;the conveyor "andwholdinggthew same firmly in position duringthe cutting operation and alsofo'r: loose'ning the husls to facilitatethe engagement" thereof by the husking rollers. For-this purpose we havesecured to the guidebar 27 a bracket 28which has .'a portion extendingat "an, acute angle from the-guide bar, and pivotallymounted upon, thisbracket isla ryielda ble. bar- 29 ".havingmear'the end thereof prongsor: teeth 30 to engagefthehusks.of'the eareand tear or loosentliesameh-l The.- move1nent of the bar 29"about its axis is resisted bya spiral spring 321 which is coiled about a bolt 33 extending thitoughthe bracket. 28and bar 29 (and having at its outer end anut 34:1bymeansl of whichlthe tension ofthe spring may be regu- "Ill ordervthatyzthe gaging rollers may, accommodate themselves to ears of"different thicknesseg'and thus insure-"the removal of the entire buttwithout putting away any of V the ear, the gaging roller -'6 islaterally yie'lct" able with relation to the gaginggoller 5; To this endthetroll'er is mounted in bearings 35 which'areslidably mounted so thatthey may move toward and from the roller ,5, the out ward "slidingmovement-being resisted. b'y' spiral springs 3'6'fl1nountedon bolts 37.The

teeth'of the gears i'ldare of "sufficient depth, to permit of thenecessary movement of the" roller 6 withoutidisengag'ing the 7 twogears.

Arranged 1b eyond' the butt iremoving de 1 Vice" is a pair of"huskin'g:rollersi38andf-39i adapted to .rec-eiv'e"the ;earsof."cornafter the butts have 'been"removed therefrom and toremovethe husksffr'omthe ear; Arranged above the hhsking: rollers --isg'an*-endlesscon veyor'40 1 having laterallyextending flights tl 'to' engage the ears;-- movethem lengthwise ofthtr husking' rollers and' dischargethem will 'receivebetween them i the earsin length to'a chute 42: The flights of thisconveyor are *spaced apart suc'h distances that the 7 Wise 'p'osit'i'on-Estend'in' p arallelwitlii the conveyor is a'guide' bar G'iwhichiissupportedby b'raekets 68 and-which:serves to retain the ears improper 1position: with! :relationnto, the husking rollers'ii The husliing.conveyor.

40 is so arrange'dowithiirelationzato the. CQI1- veyon 8: of "the :buttEremovingidevice that the flights :of "theztwo conveyors will,intermeslr nearal theiradjacent-tends,a thuscausing; the flightsv lloftheshnski-n g conveyor to extend between." adjacent flights: of; the,conveyor for the butt removing device and to engage means are providedfor oa-using the ears to" assume'a osition onxthehiuskingrollers as 7they are moved onto the same by the conveyor 40. Preferably this meansis in the form of;- a brush43 so arranged above the conveyor of the'buttremoving device, near thedischarge end thereof, that it will engage theupper ends or tips of the ears and tilt" the same forwardly as the earis moved onto 1 the husking; rollers thus; causinggit; to fall inialengthwise positionuon thehusking rollers- The fibers of. the brush'tar'e of, considerable" depth, 1 .thus enabling it-"tor, act .on, earsof; {different lengths. Thehusking roll. ers may be of ,anysuitableicharaoten ;but,--,we have found that, zwhenaonetofr,theerollers :is provided :Wlth! alsurface of ,yieldablepmaterrial, suchas rubber, the-silksswill be an'ore completely removed fromitheears. .Wehave; therefore, shown the l1usking roller= 39 as comprisingga body 44of solidimateri-al, pref: erably metal, and an outer coveringgtfigmf:rubber; v The roller 38 is preferablyyformed of metah and.uis-fprovidedn with auspinal groove 146 which serves: to: keep I-thekrubber roller free, from obstructions, i sueh as; bits oft-cob orhusltuwhioh il'lllght-tlOdgQfl in the biteofthe rollers and inj ,urethe-rubber: roller; If ,desi-red,- themetal roller- -may; also; havelongitudinal corrugationaabetween the; spirals off; the groove, ',to 1give it ea; better grippingaction,onitheahusksil the shaft 23 .extends;completely aeross the-v meohanism-andqhas nithatz-endremotef om'thef'pulley :24: a er d gear .fl :W iehlmeshes with a corresponding.gear siflnzfl:fihafii' e' Secured to. (the -sha.fit="-49 is a -.=geanflvhic is connectedg hrQugh-s =an:idl'er ;g an 551 gwith: a gear .52on-the shaft-of the ihuskingiroller 38*; i and 5Wl1lCh"iiIlnturnamesheswvithea gear, 53 'on, .the roller 139.2 The 1 conveyonMlOacoma prises a sprocket chainl which gexte'ndspabouta sprocket wheels 54:and 551;- the sprocket ing moved and thus throw the same forward ontothe husking rollers.

It will be apparent that in the operation of the machine the ears areplaced one at a time in an upright position between the flights of theconveyor 8 with their butt ends resting upon the gaging rollers 5 and 6.The movement of the gaging rollers and of the conveyor carries the earsforward into contact with the cutter, which removes the butt, and as theear is carried past the cutter it is engaged by the husking looseningdevice 29 which tears the outer husks loose. The ear is carried past thecutter by the conveyor 8 but before it is discharged it will be engagedby a flight of the husking conveyor 40 which will carry it from the buttremoving device to the husking rollers, and as it is advanced onto thehusking rollers the brush 43 will engage the upper end thereof and tiltthe ear forwardly so as to throw it onto the husking rollers with thetip foremost, in which position theear will lie between two of theflights of the husking conveyor 40 and will be carried along the huskingrollers thereby.

The gaging device may take various forms and may comprise either one ortwo rollers. In Figs. 5 to 8 I have shown two modifications of thegaging device and in that form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the devicecomprises a spiral roller 68, corresponding to the roller 6 of Fig. 1,and a smooth roller 64 which has been substituted for the spiral roller5 of Fig. 1. In Figs. 7 and 8, the device comprises a spiral roller 65and a fixed bar 66 which is curved to provide a round edge to engage thebutt of the ear and which is arranged adjacent to the spiral roller 65.In both of these modified forms of gaging device the stem of the carwill enter between the spiral roller and its cooperating gaging" memberand will be definitely positioned with relation to the butt removingdevice and will be moved toward the butt removing device by the actionof the spiral roller.

While we have shown and described certain embodiments of our inventionwe wish it to be understood that we do not desire to be limited to thedetails thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilledin the art.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a combined butt removing and husking mechanism comprising a gagingdevice, a butt removing device adjacent to said gaging device and a pairof husking rollers arranged beyond said butt removing device to receivethe ears of corn after the butts have been removed therefrom, an endlessconveyor arranged parallel with said gaging device and having flights toengage the individual ears and move the same along said gaging deviceand past said butt removing device,

anda second endless conveyor arranged 7 parallel with said huskingrollers and having flights each adapted to extendbetween adjacentflights of the first mentioned con-vb V veyor and to engage an ear ofcorn asit is discharged from sald first mentioned conveyor and'move saidear along said husking rollers. I g

2. In a combined butt removing andhusking'mechanismcomprising a gagingdevice, a butt removing device adjacent to said gaging device and apairof husking rollers. arrangedbeyondsaid butt removing devlce toreceive the, earsof corn after the butts have been removedtherefrom, anendless conveyor arranged parallel with said gaging device and havingflights to. engage the individual ears and move the same along saidgaging device and past said butt removing device, a second endlessconveyor arranged are discharged from said first mentioned conveyor tocause them to assume positions on said husking rollers with their tipsforemost.

3. In a combined butt removing and husking mechanism comprising a pairof gaging.

members arranged in a substantially horizontal plane, a butt removingdevice arranged near the discharge ends of said gaging members, and apair" of husking rollers arran ed beyond saidbutt removing device,,anend ess fconveyor having flights arranged above said gaging memberstomove ears of corn in an upright position past saidbutt.

removing device, a second endless conveyor having flights arranged abovesaid husking rollers tomove ears of corn lengthwise of said rollers,said second conveyor being so positioned thatthe flights thereof will intermesh with the flights of the first mentioned conveyor and engage theears as they are discharged from said first mentioned conveyor. V

4;. In acombined butt removing and husking mechanism comprising a pairof gaging members arranged in a substantially horizontal plane, a buttremoving device arranged near the discharge ends of said gagingmeinbers, and a pair of husking rollers arranged beyond' said buttremoving device. an endless conveyor having flights arranged above saidgaging members to move ears of corn 1n an upright position past saidbutt removing device, a second endless conveyor having flights arrangedabove said husking rollers to move ears of corn lengthwise of saidroller, said second conveyor being so posltioned that the flightsthereof will in

